Heber Resident Joins County Attorney’S Office

Pam Rodriguez, of Heber, seen here with Navajo County Attorney Brad Carlyon, fills the newly created position as Navajo County director of community services with the responsibility for the Victim Services Division, Bad Check Program and Interagency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect.

A recent warm-up in our area has given relief to the bitter cold we had experienced earlier in the month. With the warmer temperatures and melting snow, the creeks still have an empty status. Our outlook is fairly mild this weekend with lows in the 20s and highs hovering around 50 degrees.

Pam Rodriguez of Heber has joined the Navajo County Attorney’s Office in the newly-created position of director of community services, filling a vacancy created when longtime Victim Services Director Evelyn Marez was elected as the new Holbrook Justice of the Peace.

In her new position, Rodriguez will be responsible for directing the office’s Victim Services Division and Bad Check Program, as well as providing leadership to the Interagency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect (ICAN). Navajo County Attorney Brad Carlyon said the expansion of Marez’s former position into the broader one of community services director was a logical move since the Victim Services Division, Bad Check Program and ICAN all focus on assisting crime victims and protecting their rights.

The Victim Services Division assists crime victims and their families in understanding and enforcing their legal rights and receiving support services. The Bad Check Program assists businesses and individuals in collecting on bad checks, while ICAN provides a wide variety of services to assist victims of child abuse and neglect and adult sexual abuse.

The Navajo County Board of Supervisors has approved major changes to the county’s dog licensing requirements at their Dec. 28 meeting. Deputy Director of Navajo County Animal Control Montana Slack stated that in an effort to increase rabies vaccination compliance and to make dog licensing easier, more convenient and affordable for county residents, the following changes were approved:

CHANGE IN LICENSE DURATION AND PERIOD: We are changing from a calendar year (Jan. 1 through Dec. 31) system to a license that runs concurrently with the rabies vaccination. All dog licenses will now expire on the expiration date of the current rabies vaccination. This will allow each dog’s license to be valid for up to three years.

CHANGE IN LICENSE FEES: We are reducing the fees for dog licensing to make it more affordable. All dog licenses will now cost only $5 for the duration of the license period unless procured via a free Internet application process.

ADDED CONVENIENCE: In addition to veterinarians, animal clinics and animal shelters, licenses will now also be available at public works offices in Show Low, Heber and Holbrook and via the Internet through a Web license application portal. For Internet Web applications, the applicant must be able to upload the current rabies vaccination certificate at the time of the application process.

The Rim Community Library is having an Open House Saturday Jan. 22. Learn what the Navajo County Library Web site can do for you. Also issuance of library cards is going to be available. The friends of the library bookstore will also be open during this time with books on sale.